Patrick Leigh Fermor as a Cretan mountaineer, Kyriakosellia, 30 January 1943. ‘The apt epitome of a long and reckless tradition of mountain feud, guerilla, and armed revolt . . .’

Xan Fielding, Kyriakosellia, 30 January 1943 Arthur Reade at Gournes before the raid on the beehive huts, 24 January 1943

Arthur Reade at Gournes before the raid on the beehive huts, 24 January 1943

Leigh Fermor’s team at Hordaki, on the run after the raid at ‘the Eagle’s Nest’, Fourfouras, early May 1943. Leigh Fermor (front left), Niko Soures (behind), Matthew White (top left), Aristides Paradisianos (centre), Yanni Tsangarakis (centre front), George Tyrakis holding a sheep’s scapula (front right) Leigh Fermor and Yanni Tsangarakis at Hordaki, early May 1943. ‘Yanni . . . my best friend in Crete . . . the best and hardest worker we have ever had here.’

Leigh Fermor and Yanni Tsangarakis at Hordaki, early May 1943. ‘Yanni . . . my best friend in Crete . . . the best and hardest worker we have ever had here.’

Leigh Fermor, George Tyrakis and Athanasios Bourdzalis planning the escape route, 20 April 1944. ‘A glance at the map at once indicated the vast bulk of Mount Ida . . . a familiar refuge to most of us, but, to the enemy, a daunting and perilous labyrinth haunted by guerrilla bands and outlaws.’

Leigh Fermor at the hideout at Kastamonitza, 20 April 1944. ‘We passed the time talking and reading out loud.’

Moss and Leigh Fermor in battledress, 20 April 1944

The abduction party at Xylouris’ hideout, 28 April 1944, Moss and Leigh Fermor in German uniform. Clockwise from top left: Emmanouil Paterakis (Manoli); Leigh Fermor; Moss; George Tyrakis; Nikolaos Komis (Nikos); Antoni Papaleonidas; Efstratios Saviolakis (Stratis); Grigori Chnarakis

Manoli Paterakis and George Tyrakis at Xylouris’ hideout, 28 April 1944

Restaging the abduction, 1946. ‘There was only one good place for an ambush: the point where the steeply banked minor road from Archanes joined the main road from the south . . .’ Moss, General Kreipe and Leigh Fermor at Xylouris’ hideout, 28 April 1944

Leigh Fermor and Moss resting at Xylouris’ hideout, 28 April 1944

Moss, General Kreipe and Leigh Fermor at Xylouris’ hideout, 28 April 1944

At the snowline on Mount Ida, 29 April 1944. ‘The last stunted mountain cedar vanished, leaving us in a stricken world where nothing grew and a freezing wind threatened to blow us off our feet. Then deep snow turned every step into torment.’

Leigh Fermor handing over Kreipe in Cairo, 17 May 1944. ‘The General’s behaviour was most friendly and helpful throughout and he put up with the hardships of mountain travel and rough living with fortitude.’

Captor and prisoner reunited in Athens, 1972. ‘We had both drunk at the same fountains long before; and things were different between us for the rest of our time together.’